Colonization 01 - Second Contact by Harry Turtledove

Author:Harry Turtledove
Language: eng
Format: epub

When he opened the door, he found two men standing in the hallway. One of them, a broad-shouldered, meaty fellow, put a big hand in the center of his chest and pushed, hard. With one bad leg under him, he went over backwards as if he'd been shot. As he fell, the muscular guy's skinny pal said, "Don't fuck with us, gimpy, and you'll keep breathing. We've got some business to finish up with your lady friend. I bet you even know what we're talking about, don't you?"

Both bruisers started past him, certain Penny was there and also certain he was no danger to them.

They'd likely been casing the joint, so their first certainty was accurate. Their second certainty, however, had some flaws. Rance had got used to wearing that .45 in the waistband of his trousers, and the reflexes he'd honed in the Army still worked. Even though both his leg and his shoulder bellowed at him when he hit, he had the heavy pistol in his hand less than a heartbeat later.

He fired without a word of warning. The .45 bucked in his grip. A hole appeared in the back of the heavy man's jacket. Gore and guts blew out a much bigger hole in the front of his belly— the sort of hole, Auerbach knew from experience, you could throw a

dog through.

The bruiser let out a hoarse scream and crumpled. His friend whirled, hand darting for a trouser pocket.

He had commendably quick reflexes, but not quick enough to let him outdraw a gun already aimed at him. Auerbach's first bullet caught him in the chest. He looked very surprised as he stood there swaying.

Auerbach shot him again, this time in the face, and the back of his head exploded. He fell on top of the other thug, who was still writhing and shrieking. Auerbach smelled blood and shit and smokeless powder.

Penny came around the corner from the bedroom, pistol in her hand. She didn't scream or puke or faint.

She aimed the pistol at the head of the heavyset ruffian, the one Auerbach had shot from behind, plainly intending to finish him off.

"Don't," Rance told her. "Put your piece away. Go back into the bedroom and call the cops. If half a dozen people haven't done it already, I'm a Chinaman. These two bastards broke in here intending to rob us or whatever the hell, and I plugged 'em. We don't have to say a word about ginger."

"Okay, Rance." She nodded. The broad-shouldered goon had stopped moaning, anyhow; with a wound like that, he wouldn't last long. "Keep an eye on 'em anyhow, just in case."

"I will." With his usual slow, painful movements, Auerbach levered himself up into a chair. He took a look at the carnage, then shook his head. "What do you want to bet the goddamn landlord tries to stick me with the bill for cleaning this up?"

Penny didn't answer; she'd already gone back into the bedroom to use the telephone. One of Rance's neighbors stuck her head into his apartment through the open doorway.

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